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US launches missile strike against Syria in response to gas attack

The U.S. launched a missile strike in Syria on Thursday night in response to a chemical attack earlier this week that officials said was carried out by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The missile strike, which reportedly killed at least seven people, was ordered by President Trump a day after he said his his view of Assad had changed because of the chemical attack.

“Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” the president said. “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons.”

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Warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat Air Base near the city of Homs, where the gas attack originated, the Pentagon said. The missiles were launched at 8:40 p.m. EDT, which was early Friday morning in Syria. They targeted aircraft, shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems and radars at the Shayrat Air Base, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The strike is a dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement in Syria; it is the first direct American assault on Assad’s government and the most significant military action of Trump’s presidency.

The Pentagon said that initial reports indicate that the strike "severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian Government's ability to deliver chemical weapons."

Assad has the backing of Moscow in his war against Syrian rebels seeking his ouster, and Russians were on the ground near the strikes.

But the Pentagon said it had been in contact with Russia, allowing Moscow to protect its forces.

"Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said in a statement. "U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not notified directly.

A televised statement from the Syrian armed forces said seven people were killed in the strike and nine others wounded.

The move was widely praised abroad, with governments in Britain, France, Israel, Italy, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all issuing statements of support.